April 17, 2015
Ontario
Ontario
Red light complaints flood K2 wind farm
K2 has no plans to change red light system atop A-C-W turbines, spokesperson says | By Fadi Didi | April 17, 2015 | www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca
K2 has no plans to change red light system atop A-C-W turbines, spokesperson says | By Fadi Didi | April 17, 2015 | www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca
Call Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh the new red light district.
Dozens of complaints have reached the ears of staff at the Kingsbridge II (K2) wind farm in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh regarding the blinking red lights atop 70 of the 140 turbines area turbines.
Just this week, K2 spokesperson Jay Shukin says several dozen complaints have been heard about lights being a distraction to either night time drivers or night sky watchers.
A recent Letter To The Editor in the Goderich Signal Star claims, if enough people complained about the red lights, K2 would retrofit the effected turbines.
Shukin says this is untrue.
He tells Bayshore Broadcasting News numerous technologies exist based on the various environments where turbines are constructed.
In Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, a “narrow beam” system is used, which concentrates light to the sky where pilots can easily see them.
Although it fails to completely block the light from being seen from the ground, Shukin says it mitigates the beams visible from beneath a turbine.
He also points to radar technology, which activates lights when pilots are nearby, and visibility-based systems that brighten or dim depending on weather and light conditions.
Shukin says the prime concern is aircraft safety, and the terms set by Transport Canada.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/04/17/red-light-complaints-flood-k2-wind-farm/